Whew, it was almost information overload. We packed in so much in a 3 hour training session - but it was awesome and we had a lot of fun!
First we worked on getting Neiko to bring the frisbee back along with building drive through tug games and 2 targets (tugs, frisbees, etc). I'm going to write this out so I can get it all straight in my head - feel free to ignore - or chime in, whatever!
Get 2 frisbees and entice Neiko in to a game of tug - keeping the frisbee away from him for a few seconds then tug and let him win. When he brings it back to continue the game mark it with "yes" and tug then let him win again. When he picks it up and brings it back tell him to drop and mark it with "yes" and reward. This makes it very exciting for him to bring the frisbee back. After a few mins of play, end the game. Let him wonder off doing doggy stuff and when he comes back start the game again. This tells him that being with me is fun fun fun. Switching between 2 frisbees or tugs gets him to be not so focused on just one frisbee (which he is now - which is not good for freestyle)
Next we worked on my throws. I learned that every dog has a certain space and time where they will run and leap to catch the frisbee. If you don't find that sweet spot they will wait for the frisbee to drop. So, I worked on frisbee placement - practicing targets on left and right sides and different levels in the air: high, medium, low. I also learned how to get the disc to hover over a certain spot (I need to practice all this of course!)
I also learned different ways to throw the frisbee, back hand, forehand, different finger placement, etc. I really need to work on the throws - I'm much better at backhand than any other.
Then we got Neiko out again and worked on hand targeting. Kind of like in agility where you want your dog to follow your hand. It's the same idea but you want him to watch for the flash of the hand (or the snap of the disc). We started out easy, throwing out hand out to each side and up high, down low etc. And then got him to start jumping over legs, knees, our backs, etc.
So, we have a lot to work on from just this one session. I got to watch the trainers work their dogs and wow - those dogs are driven! You should see them. 5 mins and each dog was whooped - they were working so hard after that frisbee. Those dogs can catch some air too! It was way too cool :)